Fisher Asset Management LLC Acquires 11,472 Shares of Linde PLC $LIN

Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Linde PLC (NASDAQ:LIN) by 5.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 238,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,472 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Linde were worth $113,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Linde during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership grew its stake in shares of Linde by 195.2% in the 3rd quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 62 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in shares of Linde in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 82.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Linde news, VP Guillermo Bichara sold 9,455 shares of Linde stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.45, for a total transaction of $4,542,654.75. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 22,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,636,202.10. The trade was a 29.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Linde Stock Performance

Shares of LIN stock opened at $509.34 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $236.02 billion, a PE ratio of 34.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $456.14 and a 200-day moving average of $449.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Linde PLC has a one year low of $387.78 and a one year high of $510.65.

Linde (NASDAQ:LIN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $4.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.64 billion. Linde had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 19.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.97 earnings per share. Linde has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 17.400-17.900 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Linde PLC will post 16.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Linde Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a $1.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $6.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is an increase from Linde’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.50. Linde’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on LIN. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price target on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Linde from $540.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Linde in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Linde in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Linde from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $508.20.

Linde Company Profile

Linde (NASDAQ: LIN) is a multinational industrial gases and engineering company that supplies gases, related technologies and services to a wide range of industries. The company traces its current form to the 2018 combination of Germany’s Linde AG and U.S.-based Praxair, creating one of the largest global providers of industrial, specialty and medical gases. Linde’s business model centers on production, processing and distribution of gases as well as the design and construction of the plants and equipment needed to produce them.

Core products and services include atmospheric and process gases such as oxygen, nitrogen and argon; hydrogen and helium; carbon dioxide; and a portfolio of higher‑value specialty and electronic gases.